Into the Woods
by PrincessLil
Summary: What happens after 'And they all lived happily ever after? ' What if they don't live? Short & bittersweet L/J, Post-Hogwarts. Please read/review!


Disclaimer: Not mine, I don't get the money. Please don't sue.

Into the Woods

It was quiet and calm approaching midnight in Godric's Hollow, save for the brisk wind tossing stray leaves and bits of rubbish about the village square.

In the sitting room of a cozy cottage, away from the open wind, a young redheaded woman stared into the dying embers of the fireplace; her green eyes glazed over and the photo album on her lap long since forgotten.

Quite suddenly, a man appeared with loud 'pop'; sending the woman on the couch flying.

"James!" she shrieked, her wand arm still in the air. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought we agreed to a knock on front door, under the circumstances!"

"I'm sorry Lily, but I thought you'd be in bed by now." James swung off his cloak and eyed her now lowered wand. "You weren't actually going to use that were you?" he asked, a small smirk playing on his lips as he approached her.

"Maybe. I still might if you don't have a good reason you're late." Her eyes narrowed, "Do you know how worried I've been? Anything could have happened to you!"

"Ah, Lil, I've told you before; you're not getting rid of me that easily." She made a noncommittal grunt as he forced her eyes to meet his. "Can I have a 'welcome home' kiss now?" he asked, wearing a pouty smile. Lily consented, her eyes softening slightly.

"Now, then Mrs. Potter," James continued, "What have you been up to this evening?"

"Besides mourning my early death, that is." He added, his eyes dancing as he dodged Lily's arm.

"Not much" she grunted, missing James again. Giving up the abuse, she turned and grabbed a book from the floor. "I guess I was feeling a little sentimental" she said in explanation, handing her husband their wedding album.

She poked her head over James' shoulder as he opened the first page.

"Can you believe it's been nearly three years already?"

He turned his head to catch her eyes, "I still can't believe you said 'yes'."

He smiled at her blush, "and now we have Harry too….sometimes it's hard to believe how lucky I got."

"How lucky _we_ got." she corrected lovingly.

"Speaking of Harry," she continued, noting how James now stiffened, "how did your meeting with Sirius go?" She started fidgeting, feeling nervous. "Did he still agree to it?"

"Of course," James steered her to sit and reiterated, "He was still more then willing, but…" he paused.

"'But' what?" Lily prompted. She was worried enough without him dragging this out.

"Well," James tried again, running a hand through his hair. "Sirius actually had another suggestion….He thinks we should use Wormtail."

Lily stared at James, trying to gauge his seriousness; panic starting to rise. "Use Peter?" she repeated, "As our Secret Keeper? James are you sure?"

He shrugged, looking anywhere but her eyes, "Well, why not?"

"James. You; _we_, have got to have a better reason then "_why not_"!" She tried to take deep breaths, her panic in full swing now. "I thought we had this planned already!"

Her eyes were desperately scanning his as he replied sadly, "I trust Peter; I would trust all my friends with my life." He paused for a moment then blurted the rest out, "Padfoot thinks it might be Moony."

"The informer, I mean. That's why he wants us to use Wormtail. You have to admit that no one would think of him first."

Lily agreed, gazing into her husband's pleading eyes. "Do you really think it could be Remus?" she asked softly.

"I don't know, Lil." He ran his hand through his hair again, "I don't want to believe it, but you know the kind of work he does for the Order…the people he's around."

She nodded slowly, her eyes filling up with tears. When James saw this, he moved toward Lily with surprise and enveloped her in a hug. His wife certainly had a temper on her, but rarely did that turn into tears.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked softly, pulling back and wiping a tear off her cheek.

"I don't know…it's nothing" she mumbled, trying to evade his eyes. She hated being weepy.

"Lily, darling, this is not 'nothing'," James smiled. "Talk to me."

She paused for an instant, biting her lip, and then flicked her eyes up to meet his. "James…" she started quietly. "James, I'm scared. I'm so scared of losing you, or Harry…our life together."

"Is that all?"

"What do mean, '_all_'?" she demanded, her green eyes suddenly flashing.

"No, Lily, I just meant it's normal to be scared." James said quickly, trying to soothe her. "I'm scared too. I love you and Harry more than anything in this world. But isn't that why we've been fighting? To protect all this?"

"Hmm," Lily agreed, drying her eyes. "But it's different now. Don't you feel it's different?"

"Maybe," James decided after some thought. "You remember our old quote, though, don't you?"

Lily looked almost amused as she shook her head. Then James continued, "You know, that one from the book your parents gave us when we joined the Order."

He laughed softly, "They thought it might help. It said, 'Those who are never afraid can never be brave.'"

"And I happen to know that you, Lily Potter, are quite capable of bravery."

"But I don't know if I can do this…" she looked at him nervously, "James, what if I can't do this?"

"You _can_ do this." James told her bracingly, "You are a Gryffindor; of course you can do this. _We_ can do this."

She glanced at him doubtfully and as smirk twitched at the corners of his mouth, James explained, "This is just a difficult patch. Didn't we hear all couples go through them? And – "

Lily opened her mouth to protest but James rolled on, "Alright, so that might not be exactly what they meant, but we will get through this. The darkness will end, you'll see."

Lily smiled weakly up at him, "We both know that might not be true, but thank you." She nestled her head into his shoulder and confided, "I think I just needed to hear you say it's going to be okay…"

"It will be." James kissed the top of Lily's head and wrapped her more tightly in his arms before whispering, "We're going to be just fine."

The End

"To be happy and forever, you must see your wish come true

It's a dangerous endeavor, but the only thing to do –

Though it's fearful, though it's dark…

You go into the woods where nothing's clear,

Into the woods and through the fear

You have to take the journey

Into the woods and down the dell

In vain, perhaps, but who can tell?

Into the woods then out of the woods

And happy ever after"


End file.
